I have also heard their is reverse AA for asians in some top schools as well because they already have a high percentage. i'm not sure how true this is I only read an article about it, but of course the schools will not amdit this so there's no proof.

I agree here. Though we are a minority, we are not underrepresented in many schools. I believe the push right now is for black americans and hispanics on a general scale since they represent a greater percentage of the population yet are underrepresented in many of the law schools. Like you I have only read but I have it on good source that Asians are not a high concern at this point

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smiley

I believe that whites see us Asians as a non-minority group and think we are very assimilated to Western ideals, etc., but I don't think that's justification for saying it's only fair to treat Asians as virtually white in the application process. I don't know if Paigeroo's comments about being identified as white were to be a justification of that image, or to point out the mistake that white members of society make in regard to Asians.

To the general point of the thread, I probably wasn't given special consideration for being Asian, but I don't think it hurt in the least. Schools are still looking for that broad-termed diversity.

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smiley

Right, I don't disagree with what you're saying about Asians and AA, Lady Trojan. I'm not arguing for any kind of preferential treatment in the admissions process. I was just saying in my opinion, to answer the question, that Asians do not get treated the same as whites with regard to applications, nor should they. As much as we've assimilated (which I'm not sure is even true, or a positive thing), and as much as society (and by society I think we're talking about white society) views Asians as white, they just aren't. And I agree with what you said about Asians not facing the same discriminatory issues as blacks and other minority groups, but I think the ideas both of "honorary white" and "model minority" are ones that lead to a more nuanced and complex racism.

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smiley

I'm very happy to see Asians enjoy success in America, I just think what we're talking about is what it means to be successful in white society, in white America. And I don't think Asian successes need to or should be measured by what white people deem as successful. So in many cases, higher education and graduate degrees mean we've "made it" but Koreans as numerous and prosperous small business owners in cities across the US are also "successful." I think it's a danger to the Asian identity (as much as there can be a pan-Asian identity) to too closely identify and align ourselves with white people, when I think that alignment is based on stereotypes and misinformation perpetuated by whites.

I know for myself, I've grown up in very white communities, with no Asian friends or role models, no teachers or community leaders. And I began to think of myself as "basically white" - my friends would even tell me this. But the person presented to the world, the person who entered different communities, like college and the working world, was not white and was not always seen as white. This was a very confusing existence and one that lead to denial and self-doubt.

I think to be Asian in America is a very complex situation and it's a thin line that we walk between being accepted in the white world (which is basically what our world is here) and identifying more fervently with a true pan-Asian identity.

In a strictly application-oriented way, Smiley brings up a good point about the complexity of Pan-Asian (or even specifically Chinese, specifically Korean, etc.) identity. As I'm writing my "Diversity Statement" (what a horrible term) and thinking about my experiences with identity and going from California to a less Asian-populated area, I find that I have plenty to talk about that makes me unique or provides me with an unusual perspective to share with the campus. At the end of the day, in theory at least, that's what the whole URM thing is about anyway, no?

Also, (and I already posted about this in the "are Asians really considered minorities" or whatever topic) there are plenty of examples of discrimination and poor treatment of Asians even still. There may be a lot of us and we may have assimilated fairly well, but we still don't look like Barbie and Ken. You can check out my post in the other thread and read the anecdotes from the NPR story, but for people who haven't been around many Asians, working with them in a collegial environment is still (apparently) somehow difficult.

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h2xblive

In a strictly application-oriented way, Smiley brings up a good point about the complexity of Pan-Asian (or even specifically Chinese, specifically Korean, etc.) identity. As I'm writing my "Diversity Statement" (what a horrible term) and thinking about my experiences with identity and going from California to a less Asian-populated area, I find that I have plenty to talk about that makes me unique or provides me with an unusual perspective to share with the campus. At the end of the day, in theory at least, that's what the whole URM thing is about anyway, no?

Also, (and I already posted about this in the "are Asians really considered minorities" or whatever topic) there are plenty of examples of discrimination and poor treatment of Asians even still. There may be a lot of us and we may have assimilated fairly well, but we still don't look like Barbie and Ken. You can check out my post in the other thread and read the anecdotes from the NPR story, but for people who haven't been around many Asians, working with them in a collegial environment is still (apparently) somehow difficult.